TV critics 25 February '08

'Bumbly not slick, hunches not science, all quaintly English.' Read on for the critics' full verdict on the weekend's TV.

Lewis, ITV1“And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea was a distinctly superior episode.”Andrew Billen, The Times

Lewis, ITV1“CSI this ain't. In fact it's pretty much the opposite - bumbly not slick, hunches not science, all quaintly English. And Lewis is certainly no Grissom.”Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

Lewis, ITV1“The capable quill of writer Alan Plater managed to keep all this high-class tosh on the right side of daft.”Simon Edge, Daily Express

Lewis, ITV1 “A shaggy dog, which romps around various Oxford settings before coming obediently to heel with a solution clutched in its mouth.”Thomas Sutcliffe, The Independent

Lewis, ITV1“To complain that an episode of Lewis contained lots of familiar elements would be to miss the point. After all, that's the way it's supposed to be. The trouble last night was that the familiar elements were all we got. Worse, they were bolted together with surprising crudeness - especially for a script by Alan Plater.”James Walton, The Daily Telegraph

High Seas Plane Crash, C4“There's more excitement in those four words than in two whole hours of Lewis.”Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

Storyville: Dance with a Serial Killer, BBC2“Compelling.”Andrew Billen, The Times

Ricky Gervais: New Hero of Comedy, C4“It simply assembled a group of the man's mates and admirers who spent the next hour telling us how great he is.”James Walton, The Daily Telegraph